Local News

Connecticut State Police investigate the area around Branchville Train Station after reports of a suspicious person sent schools in the area into lock down as a precaution on Dec. 17, 2012 in Ridgefield, Conn. (credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Related Tags:

RIDGEFIELD (CBS Connecticut) — Ridgefield schools were in lockdown after a man carrying a rifle was reportedly spotted near a train station.

The Danbury News Times reports that the man was spotted near the Branchville train station. The Hour reports that a woman claims she saw a “white male, wearing all black” carrying a rifle over his shoulder.

The lockdown has been lifted, CBS Connecticut has learned.

Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said during a Monday morning news conference in Newtown that officers were dispatched to Ridgefield to investigate the incident.

The Hour reports that an unidentified man spoke to police but was not taken into custody.

Ridgefield Superintendent Deborah Low released a statement to the News Times when the schools were put in lockdown.

“Due to a report of a possibly suspicious person in the Branchville Train Station area, all schools have been put into lockdown. Branchville Elementary school busses have been diverted to East Ridge Middle School and BES students are in the auditorium,” Low said in the statement to the News Times.

State and local police are investigating the report.

The area remains on edge after the Friday shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School where gunman Adam Lanza killed 26, including 20 children, before turning the gun on himself. He also killed his mom before heading over to the school.